


Children of the lost world

by NyeLung



Series: We challenge our Fate [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Found Family, The Deadlords, The Outrealms, The world is destroyed, this will hurt before it gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-16 21:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyeLung/pseuds/NyeLung
Summary: In an alternate version of Lucina's original timeline, Robin kept a bit of his humanity and when the world crumbles around them, it is Robin who saves the children and opens a portal for them to another world. But before they can find peace and a new home, they will have to survive the outrealms.





	1. When the world crumbles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Narina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narina/gifts).



> This is based on a version for Lucina's original timeline that I will write someday. Bear with me.

### Prologue

“Oh my dear Lucina, don't you see? Your world is falling to ashes and there is nothing you can do to stop it.” Grima was walking towards her, the familiar mouth speaking the words made them even more painful. She had known Robin all her life, had loved him as an uncle but now he was gone, had become the vessel for the fell dragon Grima just like he had been born to be. If it weren't for the red marks on his cheeks, she could still think of him as the uncle who told her stories and taught her how to play chess. No more. This was Grima and he had to die.

“I can still kill you”, she responded. “I will never bow down to you.” Grima had to die for taking her uncle, her father, for taking all her family from her and her friends. Grima had to die to stop the world from crumbling.

“And you would change nothing. Can't you see? This world is rotting from within and I am only the last of many steps towards its grave.” Grima shook his head in exasperation. “The time for this world has long come. It should have died years and years past when the gods were at war. Instead it lived on a half life and it began to rot. The rot is spreading, Lucina. It has already reached the closest outrealms and twisted them. Haven't you seen it when you were there? Souls of the dead trapped inside cards? Risen hoarding gold? The Deadlords?”

Lucina nodded numbly. She had seen it although only from a safe distance..

“The only reason why I was born is to end this world before the rot spreads to others and I will die with this world to finish my work.” Grima looked somewhere past Lucina. “I have been born so long ago when the gods were at war and man saved the world. I have been born to end this, to save other worlds from this one. Your parents and I – we were fated to meet and stop the rot together. We will perish together and when this world has burnt down into nothingness, it will give birth to a new one.”

“I don't believe you.” She couldn't. How could she? How could she accept such a cruel fate without a fight?

“You don't have to.” Grima smiled sadly and Lucina wanted to believe that it was the genuine emotion but the fell dragon wasn't able to feel, was he? How could he kill so many people were he able to feel? “Your precious Falchion is broken, the Fire Emblem is lost and there is no fate left for you to fight against.”

“No... “ Lucina stumbled to one of the windows showing the world outside. It was already crumbling. “No”, she stammered. “No, no, no.”

“Since you stepped foot in here with your companions, the rot has grown faster and destroyed everything that I cannot protect with my power. This place is the last that is left...” Grima stepped closer. “There is nothing left to save here, Lucina. Even I can't stop it now. But I could open a portal. You could travel to another world, one that is not rotten and dying.”

Lucina knew when a fight was lost. All that Grima had told her fit to everything she had found out on her own, it fit perfectly with Naga's cryptic remarks when she had tried the ritual of awakening. But she also knew what was worth fighting for. “Not without my friends.”

“They were included in the offer.” Grima had the gall to look offended at Lucina's implications. “I may have lost my humanity but I am still a father to two of them. And the others … the others still love their children. They will miss you. All of you.”

“Why?”, asked Lucina finally. Why did you leave us? Why do you try to save us?

“Because some things have to come to an end but you don't have to. You aren't part of the fate that chained us all. You have no destiny. It is not predetermined for you to die here, with us. I cannot save the world but I can save you. All of you.”

Before Lucina could respond, a portal opened at her feet and the crumbling world vanished from her view, Grima the last thing she saw.

“Fare thee well, Lucina. Fare thee well. Find your companions, remember us and find happiness where fate would not bestow it. Go and live.”

It was Grima who spoke the words but for a moment Lucina saw her uncle in his face again, for just a moment the red marks vanished and a smile returned.

“Fare thee well.”

 

Lucina was falling without any sense of direction. She wasn't sure if her friends had made it but guessed so from Grima's words. She could still hear his farewell echoing in the portal around her but there were also new voices appearing that she couldn't quite identify yet.

“My daughter, I am so proud of you.”

“Father!”, she answered before she registered that her father had been dead for years and in the service of Grima. Just a puppet. That was what she had been told and she had never had any reason to doubt it.

“I … I wished I could have seen you. You have grown so strong, you have even challenged fate itself and you brought hope when there was none left.”

“Father!”, she cried out. This was her father, Chrom, she knew it. He sounded older, weary but that was him.

“You truly are worthy of bearing the hero-king's name.” There was a low chuckle.

“Father … why did you leave?”, she cried, not even hoping for an answer.

“I don't have much time left but I wanted you to know that we loved you. That I loved you.” The silence of unspoken words made her wait for more. “I can't give you what you wanted but please take this. It has been passed down for generations among the Exalts of Ylisse. May Geirskögul serve you better than Falchion.” Chrom's voice was growing weaker and Lucina grabbed desperately into the air where she thought she heard him but there was only cold steel in her hands. “Fare thee well, my daughter.”

“Father!”

He didn't answer again, instead there were only quiet echoes of his words intermingling with Grima's.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet daughter. You have grown so much. I wished I had been at your side instead of fighting this gruesome war.”

“Mother?” Lucina nearly lost her grip on … Geirskögul he had called it, hadn't he?

“You deserved so much more than we could give.”

“No, mother... I, I had enough.” Fascinated, she noticed tears streaming down her cheeks.

“And wherever you go, remember your manners. You are the last Exalt of Ylisse. Act like it.”

“Yes, mother.” She was crying and it was joy and grief at the same time. This was the last time she would ever hear her parents' voices but at least she had been given this.

“Never forget, never doubt that we love you and we would have faced the world for you if fate hadn't kept us apart.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, took me a while but now I'm back with a new chapter and you finally get to know where Lucina landed.

Chapter 1

 

Lucina woke with a groan. For a moment she was lost to where she was before it all came rushing back. Her home was gone, her parents were gone and – she sat up and looked around – she was alone. No. Not completely alone. Nearby there was a person sitting on a rock of some kind.

“Ah, you're awake. Welcome to the outrealms.”

“Who are you?”, she blurted out. The person was a beautiful woman with an otherworldly kind of charm. Only then did Lucina notice the wings on her back and the horn on her forehead. This was not a woman. This was a divine dragon.

“You may call me Mila, young child of the line of Naga.”

“Mila?”, Lucina repeated. “The Earth Mother? But why are you here?”

“I am the last bound to the fates of the world that has crumbled around you. I came to show you how to end that rotten fate and go on towards your own path, your own destiny.” Mila smiled. “My brother is finally free from his madness and Naga finally free from the burdens you humans placed on her and I … am left in the outrealms until they vanish just as the rest. Grima spoke to you of the rot, yes? It is here. You and your companions, you have to fight the symptoms of the rot here. So long will I keep Grima's destruction at bay here and once you have finished and have found the way towards your own destiny, then will I let Grima come here and be reunited with my brother.”

“What do I have to do?”, Lucina asked full of determination.

“Have you heard of the Einherjar?”

“Father said, they existed in the outrealms but he never talked much about what happened there and I … I never asked.” And now he was dead, Lucina thought to herself. She should have asked instead of stealing through the outrealm gate and sneaking about. She had only seen the Einherjar once, caught in an ever repeating, endless battle. Had she asked, she could have known what had happened to them to punish them thus.

“They were great warriors once and should be waiting for the end of all worlds to fight in the final battle then. They are the Einherjar.” Mila paused so that Lucina had a chance to understand all this. “But a man took their souls from the realms of the dead and bound them to cards. It's a travesty of life they have now instead of being at peace and resting. Free them.”

“But how?”

“Find your companions and I will show you a way. 'Tis a dangerous way of great darkness.”

Lucina raised her chin. “I don't fear any darkness.”

“That's good.” The goddess smiled. “You see those halls straight ahead? They are filled with corrupted risen and entombed. Go. Kill every last risen you find. They carry the rot within them.” Mila rose from her seat and took a few steps towards Lucina. “That's an old weapon you carry.”

“My father gave it to me.” Reflexively, she gripped the lance that had only lain beside her.

“A kingly gift.” Mila stroked the tip of the lance with care. “I remember when its blade was tempered in Naga's blood.”

Lucina's shoulders sagged. “I don't think I was worthy of wielding it. It is broken.”

“You wielded it just like your father. You were worthy but it was the Falchion's fate to be broken. It was necessary for the breaking of the world.” Mila smiled gently. “Geirskögul does not have such a fate written down for it. It is just like you, destined for other paths that you forge yourself, young Exalt.”

“But I can't even fight with a lance!”, she finally said what had been brewing in her the whole time.

“You will learn. You will all learn.” She stroked one lock of her hair out of her face. “Your friends are inside those halls. You should find them before the Risen do.”

“What?” She felt the worry rise up within her. Why hadn't the goddess told her so immediately? They could be in danger, especially Brady who still preferred his staff to weapons.

“Before you go, young Exalt, remember. Kill the Risen, free the Einherjar, then I will show you the way to the next world.”

Lucina stopped listening, held the lance Geirskögul firmly in her hands and ran into the halls. Everything could wait until she found her friends, her companions. They had shared pain and sorrow, short moments of joy and she would not allow anyone to hurt them.

 

 

She found Nah first, changed into her dragon-form and surrounded by dead Risen. She was fighting valiantly but she was also growing tired. Lucina had grown used to seeing the signs. With a war cry she charged in, lance at the ready and trying to remember her lessons from her father and Frederick.

Soon, the Risen were dispatched and Nah turned back again. “I'm glad you found me”, she said, yawning.

“I'm also glad I found you. Do you know where the others are?”

Nah shook her head. “We got separated. Suddenly we were falling and there were … I heard Mom and Dad.” She yawned again. “I'm so tired.”

“Come here, I will carry you until we have to fight again.” She signed her to climb on her back. Nah was still one of the younger ones and it tired her out enormously to fight in her dragon form. “Let's find the others.”

“Hmm”, Nah yawned, while hanging on Lucina's back, dragonstone gripped tightly. “Can you tell me what happened? We were in the courtyard and then the horizon vanished and suddenly we were falling. What happened in the throne room?”

“I...” She hesitated. “I'm not sure either. This happened because of Grima and I don't know why or how and I have to think about it a bit more. Let's talk about it when we found the others.”

 

To her great relief, Brady wasn't alone when she found him. He had held tightly onto Severa and so they had arrived together in this outrealm. She was protecting him while he kept her healed. Severa was even more grim than usual and Lucina guessed that she as well had heard her parents' farewells. Brady was sniffling into a handkerchief. Her half brother had always been sentimental and if he had heard their mother, he was most likely trying not to cry now.

 

She heard Inigo's laughter before she saw him in the midst of Risen. He was dancing with his blade, graceful like his mother, deadly like his father. His eyes were red from crying.

 

Cynthia was without her pegasus when they arrived. Even on the ground, she was proving herself as a warrior and Gerome was helping her and guarding Minerva in these narrow corridors. The loss of the pegasus had happened, because apparently it had just been killed by a stray magic explosion when Cynthia had been swallowed by the portal.

 

Kjelle had picked up Noire on her way and later found Marc, Morgan and Yarne, so they had continued on together until they met Lucina and her team. Marc was wounded badly because a Risen had gotten to him and it was only Noire's forbidden knowledge of very dark arts that kept him going. Bardy was swearing all the while he took care of the damage.

Lucina was beginning to worry for her cousin and Laurent.

 

When they found Owain, he wasn't the cheerful hero. He was grimly fighting and holding his own against a flood of Risen that just didn't seem to end. He was so like his father, blade swift and deadly, used to maximum effect. As soon as the Risen were dispatched, Owain returned to his heroic self and it brought back Lucina's smile for a moment. All was well. They hadn't found Laurent yet but when Owain could do speeches, all was going to be well.

 

It wasn't difficult to find Laurent then. There were scorched Risen corpses lying everywhere. Unfortunately, his tome had burnt out because he had used so much power from it within such a short amount of time. So Laurent was sitting on a pillar, trying to evade the Risen when they found him. At least he was unharmed and Morgan was kind enough to give him her Elthunder-Tome so he wasn't unarmed any longer. Morgan was sufficiently able with a sword.

 

“So, Lucina”, Nah said after she had climbed down from Lucina's back. “Tell us what happened. Why are we here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to the person who had guessed it right: Lucina's mother is Maribelle. And since I view the Shepherds as very polyamorous Maribelle wasn't only with Chrom but also with Libra. Just because I love both pairings so much and yeah. Well. Polyamory for the win? I think there will be lots of that in this story.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took me so long. Real life is hard and writing even harder.

### Chapter 2

They took it differently. Severa refused to believe that there was a shred of humanity left in Grima. Kjelle sided with her. It was only understandable. Nah stayed silent throughout Lucina's whole retelling of the events. Brady was crying again.

“So, what do we do now?”, Cynthia asked.

"I'm not sure", Lucina admitted. "I don't know what to think any longer. But if Mila said the truth and this realm is collapsing like our home ... then I guess we should do what she wants and then get out of here."

 

Getting out meant going back into the spookily lit corridors and dim halls where Lucina had found her friends before. They had to cleanse it of the Risen and then continue on to where the Einherjar should be.

"Logic dictates that we would be a lot faster, if we split into two groups of seven", Laurent mentioned off-handedly. "One group would have to include me and the other would need Brady, so we have a healer in each. Seven would also mean that we are still big enough to be a threat to the Risen and be able to help each other."

Lucina smiled. "Thank you, Laurent. Your advise is appreciated." She frowned. Mila had said that she would keep this realm stable but not for forever. Time was of the essence. "We split up. Brady, Cynthia, Yarne, Noire, Nah, and Kjelle, you come with me. Marc? I trust you to lead the others."

 

Lucina was panting heavily by the time they had dispatched another group of Risen. There seemed to be no end in sight and she was tiring. The only good thing so far was that none of them had been injured and that her muscles remembered how to wield a spear. Frederick had taught her well before ... he'd gone. "Yarne, can you still go?", she asked her Taguel-friend. He was the last Taguel now. Who could say whether the world they would reach would have Taguel? Or Manakete? Maybe not even humans. "Nah, what about you?"

"'m fine", the young Manakete answered. "Just need to stay back a little."

"I'll take over the front then." Kjelle squared her shoulders beneath her armour her lance at the ready.

 

Marc had allowed his sister and Owain to take the front. They were myrmidons, nimble and fast and as long as Laurent and himself would keep their back safe, they could take care of themselves. Gerome, Severa and Inigo were efficiently cleaning up the rest.

They were pushing quickly through the hordes but there always seemed to be more. Marc wondered how much longer they would have to go. Corridors and halls filled with undead. He stopped looking closer at them. He ignored the leftover armours and clothes. Some were just too familiar and it hurt to see the traditional garbs of Chon'sin after they - Morgan and himself - had lost their country, their mother and uncle, everything that had made that place their home. Seeing the traditional garbs made him remember the burning cherry trees and the smoke filled skies.

Marc shook his head to free himself of these thoughts. Next to him Laurent managed to make his Elthunder fell two Risen in one swoop by somehow manipulating the lightning to fork into two. He would have to ask him how he did that.

"Oh, brave leader", Owain shouted. "My eyes have pierced the veil of darkness ahead. A pathway to hidden depths is opening before us."

Marc needed a short moment to translate Owain's speech into sensible words. The corridors were widening and lead into darkness. "Stay together, everyone. We don't know what awaits us."

 

Lucina gestured her group to halt when they reached a bigger hall that was only dimly lit. She couldn't see any Risen here but there were enough dark spots and pillars to hide. She didn't trust the seemingly peaceful place. "Can you smell anything?", she asked Yarne.

"I've gotten so much Risen blood and gore on my nose, I don't smell nothing no more." His nose twitched accordingly.

"Alright, let's move forward. Everyone watch each other's back. There could be anything in here."

Lucina took the front, flanked by Yarne and Nah. Kjelle took the back. Brady walked in their midst, protected by Cynthia and Noire. He was mumbling a spell that probably was supposed to bring some more light into this hall.

Her anxiety grew the deeper they walked in. She could swear that she could hear Risen and Entombed. She was sure that she could smell them but that could also be leftover stench from the Risen they had fought up to this point. She held Geirskögul in a tight grip, her knuckles turning white.

 

Marc was walking uncomfortably in the back of the group, his tome in hand. The dim light was cast by torches and the flickering made him see enemies in every corner and every shadow. He could only think of all the ways this could go wrong. If there was a strategist here, leading an enemy he wasn't sure existed, they would be flanked from all sides and driven into capitulation or death. So Marc prayed that there was no enemy here.

Wait. He heard something. Steps of armoured boots and whispering. Or maybe he imagined it? Morgan hadn't stopped ye- Morgan stopped. "There's something there", she said and gripped her sword the way their mother had taught them to.

"Everyone, positions." Marc opened his tome in preparation. "On my command..."

 

"I hear something", Yarne whispered.

Lucina made her group stop immediately. "What is it? Risen?"

"I'm ... not sure. We have to get closer."

"Alright. Follow me." Lucina tried to silence her steps when she continued now. She prepared her mind for the oncoming battle and -

nearly tripped when inside the shadows a pillar she recognized a familiar group of people. "Marc?"

"Lucina?", came the answer. "I think we are done here. No more Risen to fight."

"Indeed", a new voice intermitted. "You have done well, children." From the shadows of the pillars a person stepped into the light. No, she carried the light around her.

"Naga", fell from Lucina's lips. She had seen her once before during the Awakening ceremony of the Falchion. Then it had been something like a dream. This was far more real.

"Indeed, child of my blood. I am Naga. Or rather what is left of me." The goddess smiled melancholicly. "I had high hopes to save our world from the rot but in the end my blood alone wasn't enough. I still have hope that our world can be saved, that one day someone will challenge fate and rewrite time. My blood has proven too weak, so I place my hopes with you, children of our lost world. I pray that you will grow strong enough to change the flow of time."

"But", Lucina spoke up, "Rob- Grima said there was no way of saving our world."

"The being that would become Grima was born when the world came to the brink of ending, that is true. Grima was born to end it all and end it he did. But in my dreams, young Exalt, I have seen you and your companions travel far and further, reaching the light that can replenish our world and destroy the rot." Naga outstretched one hand to touch Lucina's cheek and it felt like silk and light felt, warm but unearthly. "It's a long way you will have to go but in the end you may save your home and might even protect your parents. Will you walk that way even if it leads you through fire and ice? Through the night and the storm and the heart of time? Will you walk that way even if it brings you unmeasurable pain and will force you to sacrifice what you hold dear?"

Lucina jutted her chin forwards. "I will accept any pain that comes my way but I will never sacrifice my friends. Never. Fire and ice, the night, the storm and the heart of time don't scare me but my friends will not be touched. I will walk your way if you promise to keep them safe."

"Well, fuck that", Severa grumbled. "I won't be left behind while you carry the whole burden yourself."

"I don't like fighting", Yarne added quietly, "but you're not the only one who lost their parents. And I promised you that I would stay by your side whatever happens, Lucina. I'm coming."

Lucina felt tears welling up when one after another nodded and said they wouldn't let her go alone.

"My fell sword hand demands me to seek out this new evil we will have to vanquish", Owain dramatically proclaimed before being hit by Marc.

"What he means is that we're with you", Marc added.

The tears were flowing freely now and Lucina would have been ashamed were the situation any other. But here, in front of the goddess Naga, with all her friends by her side, it felt right.

Naga smiled when she spoke again. "I expected nothing less. You will walk this path together and you will be stronger for it. And you will become stronger still. If you pass through those doors behind me, you will meet the Einherjar. Mind you, each of you has to pass through their own door and each of you has their own lessons to learn." Her smile grew sad again. "Remember, the Einherjar have been great warriors in their time. Please free them from the curse of living this half-life here and put them to rest. Seeing them as their own shadows fills me with pain."

Brady bowed before Lucina could react. "We thank you for your guidance, Naga, and with your blessing we will walk this path to the very end."

"And my blessing you shall receive." Tears rolled down her cheek and turned into crystals that Naga held out in her hand. "Use these tears wisely and may they save you in dire times. Now carry on, children of our lost world, carry on and face your fate."


	4. Chapter 4

### Chapter 3 – The Einherjar

Lucina clutched her spear tightly while walking through the door that had called to her. What lessons would be ahead? What Einherjar were waiting for her? Would she have to fight them all? Would she win? There were many questions racing through her head and they all quieted down when she walked into a room - a small hall actually - and was greeted with a familiar sight.

Before her stood the Hero King Marth in all the glory she had heard about. The tiara on his head, the mantle on his shoulder and Falchion in his hands. It looked so different from the Falchion Lucina had inherited from her father and yet it felt the same to her senses. It made her blood sing in a way the Geirskögul did not.

"Welcome, Lucina", he said and in his eyes was a sad smile. They had been told that the Einherjar didn't know they were dead and resurrected. This Marth standing in front of her knew.

"You know my name?", Lucina blurted.

His smile grew a tad more sad. "When Naga released us from the eternal battles we were caught in, no side ever dying, no side ever winning, she told me that I was going to meet one of my descendants." His gaze travelled into the far distance of memory. "I've met your father once in these realms - you were still but a child then. Since he is not here, I knew it was you. He told me your name, told me of you while we were waiting for a chance to strike down the enemy." He looked straight back at her again. "But you did not come here for that. You came here to learn and to release us Einherjar from this curse that keeps us here."

Lucina jutted her chin forward. "Yes, that is true. What will I have to do?"

"You will have to learn what we have to teach you. In the end you will meet a nemesis of ours. Defeat that nemesis and we will be free." King Marth looked her straight in the eye. "But for now you listen and learn."

 

"You may deny it", Lucina said during a break, "but you are a lot like the legends say."

"I assure you, those stories are greatly exaggerated", Marth cut in immediately.

"That may be." Lucina didn't concede this point easily. "Nevertheless, I grew up with the tales about you. The Hero-King Marth was the hope for all who lived in my world. That's why I ... I cut my hair to look like you and spread that hope.

"But you must realize not everything is as the legends say."

"Well, I guess you are a bit different from what I imagined", Lucina admitted. "It's said you slew a dragon, so I pictured you as a relentless warrior. But here you're calm and kind and you just ... I mean... you're amazing. That's what I'm trying to say."

"When you put it that way ... it makes me very uncomfortable."

"And humble, too! I'm so honoured to fight here with you. I will give everything to bring my skill closer to yours."

"Then let us fight with all we have", Marth agreed. "For your future and my past."

 

"I have to go now, don't I?"

"Indeed, you must. This realm is collapsing and you still have much to learn." 

There was sadness in her when she grasped Marth's wrist in a warrior's goodbye. "Farewell, Marth. It was an honour to learn from you."

His grip was strong when he said his part. "Farewell, Lucina. May my strength guide you."

 

~~~

 

"Salutations!", Lucina was greeted in the next hall by a fair-haired knight. She was grooming a pegasus that Lucina thought belonged to the knight. Next to her was another fair-haired knight. A man, feeding his horse an apple.

"Welcome", the man said and smiled. "I am Clive from the Deliverance of Zofia and this is my sister Clair. Your goddess Naga asked us to help you train with a spear. She is not my goddess but I will oblige her request."

"As will I", his sister amended. "A request from a goddess should not be taken lightly. You will learn how to wield a spear and you will become the best with it."

"I thank you for your guidance." Lucina bowed and got ready to receive more teachings in this realm where sleep didn't seem to exist and time was a mere concept.

 

"It never ceases to amaze me that in this strange realm I always have an apple left in my pocket to feed Silvia with."

Lucina thought how to say it diplomatically and then settled for blunt. "It's because you are dead. You are Einherjar, nothing but shadows of the warriors you were."

"Ah..." Clive seemed to think of an answer. "I thought that something was strange."

 

"Do you know how we died?", Clair asked her in another break from training.

"It's been a thousand years since you lived. We've got only legends and in those legends... you married and one day you disappeared."

 

~~~

 

"I am Nephenee, a halberdier in the army of Ike and I would like to return sooner than later so let's cut this short."

Lucina readied her spear. "I'm all with you in that regard. I don't have much time."

"Then show me what you've got."

 

"Do you have siblings?"

"One half brother." Lucina smiled at the thought of Brady. "He is learning from other soldiers in your army, though I have no idea what."

"Well, think of him when fights get tough. The thought of my family always kept me up when I was ashamed for being a country girl and thought I had no place in the army."

"Your fighting skills are amazing. I don't think you have anything to be ashamed for."

"I've come a long way."

 

When Lucina left, she didn't bring up, that Nephenee was dead. She just left and twirled her spear in the way Nephenee had showed her.

 

~~~

 

The next lessons passed in a blur. Meeting heroes from legends and tales became normal. Quan, the famour lancer and his cursed spear. Ephraim the restoration king. Finn the loyal soldier and master of the lance. She didn't tell them of their deaths. What would it bring to tell them how they would die? Why tell them of the treason and treachery and the foes too powerful? She thought it mercy to stay silent.

Her skill with the spear had grown, at least, and drastically at that. She wasn't a master yet but she could use the spear without problems and she felt that she was connecting to Geirskögul like she had connected to Falchion. There was something singing in her blood.

When she stepped through the next door, she was greeted by the familiar sight of a hero standing there with his steed. This time, however, she couldn't identify the hero by sight alone. Marth, Quan, Ephraim, Finn... their looks had been told by legends again and again. Even Clive and Clair she remembered hearing about. This man... she wasn't sure. He held himself with the regality of a king and the honour of a knight.

"So you've come", he said. "I wondered when we would meet again, Marth."

"Marth?", Lucina echoed. "I'm not Marth. I'm Lucina, daughter of Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse, descendant of the line of Marth."

The knight looked taken aback. Then he blushed. "Oh. You look exactly like him." Now it was Lucina's turn to blush. She had always looked up to the ideal of Marth and being told now that she looked like him... it felt pretty great. "I guess it is in order now to introduce myself after ... this mishap. I am Camus of the Sable Knights of Grust."

Now, _that_ was a name, Lucina had heard before. Called the epitome of a perfect knight, Camus had been part of legends for centuries.

"I am honoured to meet you. Can you teach me the way of the spear?"

"I can and I am honoured to teach a descendant of Marth."

 

"How long have I been dead?"

"I don't know", Lucina admitted. "In the legends you just disappear after Marth beat you. But there are people telling of having seen a perfect knight on his noble steed for centuries. The knight always wore a mask but he wielded the Gradivus, just as you do. He was often seen during thunderstorms, guiding people to safety."

 

"You have been a great student, Lucina, and I am glad to have met you. Although I am nothing but a shadow, I know that my soul is filled with joy."

"As I am honoured to have learned from you." Lucina bowed.

"When you go on, you will meet a nemesis of our world. If you slay them, your training will be complete. But before you go, I've got a question."

"I'll listen and answer to the best of my abilities."

"When you have to choose between the loyalty to your country and that what your heart tells you is right... what would you do?"

Lucina thought about it for a while and when she answered, Camus smiled.

"Then fare thee well. May our combined strength be your guide."

 

~~~

 

When Lucina opened the next door and stepped into the next hall, the oppressive atmosphere of something dark nearly took her breath. Then she saw him. Wielding the Gradivus that had been lost to history and clad in dark red, tough armour, stood the Dark Emperor straight out of the War of Heroes. Lucina shivered.

"So you've come, Marth! I'll show you to fear my Gradivus."

Lucina gripped her Geirskögul tight and wondered whether she really was ready to face this nemesis. She shook her head. Whether she was ready or not, here she was. And she would get to the other side of this hall and meet her friends again.

"I'll show you the power of Geirskögul, the lance of Naga!", she yelled and started to swing her lance. Two royal regalia stood against each other. The only factor determining the outcome of this battle would be their skill with a spear.

She swung her spear over her head, heard it whirr in the cutouts within the blade. She jumped and let the spear crush down. Instead it met Gradivus head on and it became a battle of strength and will.  
Lucina twisted her spear a bit like Finn had shown her and glided down the shaft of Gradivus. She would have hit had the Dark Emperor not taken a step back.

It became a dance. Hit. Swirl. Twirl. Jump. Stab. Geirskögul sang in the air, her blood rushed in her veins. It was the most alive she had felt since her father had died.

Hit. Swirl. Jump. Twirl. Stab. Hit. Crush. It became a rhythm in her heart. Block. Hit. Stab. Block. It became the rhythm of her heart, of her breath, of everything around her.

She was sweating profusely now, her breath was laboured and she was bleeding from a few stabs she hadn't been able to avoid. Geirskögul became heavier with every second. She had to defeat the Dark Emperor somehow but still he stood there in his heavy armour.

"Ha! Marth! That is all the strength you could gather? You're nothing before the power of the Gradivus."

Lucina took a moment to breathe outside of the Dark Emperor's impressive reach.

_"Farewell, Lucina. May my strength guide you."_

_"I trained you better than that. Remember what I taught you about armour?"_

_"Your friends rely on you, Lucina. Just like the Deliverance relied on me."_

_"Well, think of him when fights get tough. The thought of my family always kept me up when I was ashamed for being a country girl and thought I had no place in the army."_

_"I may be the restoration king and you may call me a hero, Lucina, but this is your hour now. This is your time to become a hero and save your world."_

_"This is all you can give? Give more. For your family. For your honour. For your world."_

_"Never give up. Never give in. Stand up and fight like the warrior you are."_

_"May our combined strength be your guide."_

One after another ghostly spectres appeared likened in appearance to the voices she just heard. They were encouraging her to continue down her path, to defeat the Dark Emperor now and forever. She looked to the side where Marth was smiling encouragingly. She looked to her other side and for a moment she could see her friends there, her family.

"You are right, everyone. I won't give up."

Lucina breathed in and readied herself for the final assault. She started running, her spear at the ready. She closed in for the kill, stood her ground and guided all her power, all her resolve into this strike with a spear. She let out a yell when it all became too much to hold in.

The tip of Geirskögul met the thick armour plates on the Dark Emperor's chest. For a moment time stood still. Then it pierced through. A loud shattering sound could be heard and within the blink of an eye, the dark oppressive power was gone.

Instead the Dark Emperor tumbled to his knees and then on his back, blood spreading under his red armour. He tried to speak and Lucina leaned in to listen. These were the last words of a worthy enemy, of a fallen legend. It was a matter of respect to listen.

“Prince... Marth... I feel as though... I've finally awoken... from a long, long nightmare... Marth... Forgive me... I tried to fight the demon inside me. ...But I wasn't strong enough. I fought so hard, but... I just couldn't beat it... I wanted to die by your hand... And now I'm finally saved... Marth... Please... Nyna... Save Nyna... Please... ...Tell her... Tell her for me... Till... till the very end... I ...loved her... always... Tell her... to please...forgive me...” 

Lucina felt tears stinging in her eyes. She'd never known this about the Dark Emperor. In legends he had always been a force of evil. Here he was just a man who had been corrupted by other forces. How similar that felt to what had happened to her family, to her father.

When he closed his eyes, Lucina cleaned Geirskögul on the Emperor's cloak and then she left without looking back.


	5. The Deadlords

Chapter 4 - The Deadlords

When Lucina met up with the others, they appeared just as shaken as she was. "Anyone want to talk?", she asked in hopes that everyone would say no. She wasn't disappointed. Brady was sniffling into his tissue.

"I've been looking around", Morgan said, "and there's a corridor at the end of this chamber. I think we have to go there."

"Then let's do it. I want to get out of here." The constant twilight of dim torches was getting to her. It felt like she was in the womb of a monster, somehow.

 

At the end of the corridor was another big hall. Lucina wished that she was surprised when she saw a long figure standing in the dimly lit half shadows.

"I am Duma, god of strength", the figure announced itself.

Lucina had heard of Duma, Mila's brother. It was said that he was asleep beneath the Demon's Tingle but apparently, the destruction of the world had woken him up.

"I did not come here to wish you well. I am here to test your strength. I will see whether you are worthy of saving, worthy of carrying our blessings with you."

"Then we will prove ourselves", Marc answered grimly.

"Well spoken. Go ahead to face my trial. Some of you will leave stronger, some of you broken."

Those were dire words and Lucina felt a chill go down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this.

 

There was no light when she entered her trial. Lucina blinked for a while until with a swooshing of air torches were lit. She blinked again until her eyes got used to the sudden flaming ambush of light. 

When finally she could see, she recognized her area immediately. The long lost throne room of Ylisse and on the throne sat her father in all the rotten glory of the Risen King. His eyes were closed as though he was sleeping like the dead person he should be.

"Father", she whispered.

His head jutted upwards and the glowing red eyes caught Lucina's gaze. "Daughter", his hollow voice answered. "Lucina", he continued with more warmth in his tone. Still, he sounded like the dead that had risen from their grave not like the father that had read her bedtime stories. "Why have you come?"

"You should be gone", she continued. Hadn't her father died alongside Grima and their world? How could he be here now? How could he be her trial of strength? Did she have to fight him? Kill him even? But how could she?

"I was gone. We all were." He rose from the throne and there was still the majesty of a king in the set of his shoulders, the strength of a man who had fought gods and dragons in his arms. But it wasn't her father anymore. "But we were called back by a voice. We heeded its call. And I ask you again. Why have you come?"

Lucina gulped. A trial of strength indeed. Standing here, facing her dead father already took all the strength she still had left. She could not even think of fighting him.

"Do you want to take revenge on me?"

"Why would I do that?" She felt tears sting in her eyes but she reigned them in. She would not cry. Not here.

"Do I have to remind you of what I did?"

And with those words the illusion of the intact throne room broke like shards of a mirror falling and she was back in that throne room that was in ruins with Grima's twisted form roaring in the background and the Risen never ceasing to come.

"Do I have to remind you of that day when we marched into Ylisse and slaughtered everyone left? Of how we marched into the halidom and made it our kingdom of death? Do I have to tell you how Lissa, your aunt, stayed back to secure your escape with the Falchion and do I have to tell you how she died by my hand?"

Lucina felt her tears come back. But she remained strong. Not for the trial but because she wouldn't show weakness in front of this shadow of her father, in front of this caricature. "No. I know all that", she said. "And I still will not take revenge on you. It was Grima who made you do that and it is Grima I will take my revenge on."

The Risen King shook his head. "Grima is not here, he is not part of this. I am your trial of strength."

"I won't fight you." Lucina clenched her teeth. "I won't kill you, father."

"So you would rather damn me to this existence? Neither alive nor dead? Caught in between worlds? Can you really be so cruel?" There was true emotion in his voice now, the broken voice of a man long beyond saving.

Lucina had heard of mercy killings before. For example when a soldier was too wounded to live through the night or a horse had broken its legs without help in sight. She had never thought of it in the context of her father, of the Risen.

"I can't", she whispered.

"Are you really that weak?", the Risen King spat. He unsheathed his sword. "Then I should kill you here and now and go your way in your stead."

Lucina fell to her knees. "I can't", she whispered again. "I can't." Again and again.

"Then you will die", the Risen King said with finality. The sword came rushing down, the sickly yellow of the corrupted dragon blade the only warning Lucina got. She rolled to the side and got in defence position behind Geirskögul. "Your way will end here and you will have achieved nothing, you will have saved nothing. In the end you are just as weak as the man I used to be. You will have let the world die in vain and you will have let down your friends who are fighting my lords of death as we speak."

"I will not!", Lucina replied in anger, finding new strength in it. "I will never let down my friends." She stood up again and raised the Geirskögul. She twirled the lance between her hands, let it take up speed and with one swift movement she brought it down and towards the Risen King. She yelled like Vaike had taught her to make her attack more powerful.

The next thing she knew, time flew into slow motion like it was honey dripping down from a spoon. The Risen King turned back into the broken man that had once been her father, the red eyes stopped glowing and a smile appeared on his pale lips. He opened the hands that gripped the corrupted dragon blade and let it fall. Lucina was still moving forwards, the Geirskögul cutting through air like a hot knife through butter, steadily moving towards the heart of her father. She tried to stop, to move it away because without the sword defending, this would become a critical hit. She was about to kill her father.

Her thoughts were speeding, her body was still moving and her father was there, smiling, as the tip of the lance pierced the white, rotten armour over his chest and sunk deeper and deeper into his body.

"Thank you", he whispered, black blood tainting his lips as he spoke.

And he fell just as slowly as the lance had pierced him. Lucina ran to him, Geirskögul forgotten. "Father! Father! No!"

She looked at him, willed him to open his eyes again, to tell her one last time that he was proud of her, that she had done good.

Nothing came.

And Lucina cried and yelled at the skies of this reality at the injustice of it all.

And when there were no more tears to be cried and no more voice left to yell, she reigned herself in like the person she had to be, the Exalt she had to be, the last Exalt of Ylisse.

And she walked out of the throne room, left it all behind to stride forward with purpose.

 

Lucina held herself uptight when she met with the others. Nah was steadying Brady who was just short of wailing and Lucina knew that he had met their mother and that he had had to kill just like she had.

"Now, were this enough trials?", she yelled at the skies with what was left of her voice. "Did we fight enough for you?"

"It was enough, indeed", Naga materialized.

"You did well", Mila added as she appeared at the side of Duma. "You have earned our blessings. May they guide you on your path to come. May they bring light into the darkness you will encounter. May they give you strength where you need it."

Mila stepped forward. Lucina had a feeling what was about to come, so she fell onto one knee and raised her head to be kissed by the goddess on her forehead. "Challenge your fate, daughter of Naga's blood and you will change the world."

Mila stepped to the side to reveal Duma while she kissed Owain on the forehead and mumbled a blessing to him too.

"You have proven yourself worthy. I will grant you the strength of kings." Duma also bowed and kissed Lucina on her forehead.

Duma also took now to Owain and Naga stepped up to Lucina. "Child of my line, this is where we part ways. I cannot grant you strength beyond compare or guidance for the future. So let me give you this. There is always hope. Even what we think is lost, may yet return to us. Fate can be unwritten, the future decided anew every moment. It is your choices, the choices of you children of our lost world, that will decide the lives of everyone."

And with that she stepped away as well and left Lucina to dwell on her thoughts.

 

"Rise, children of our lost world", Naga said when everyone had received their blessing. "You are the last that remains of us, our history. Our time has come, our fate has been written. So carry our memory with you. Don't let us be forgotten. Don't let all the sacrifices that brought you here, be forgotten." She waved her hands and a portal opened. "Carry on, children, carry on and fare thee well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, I finally know where I am going with this and hooo boy, is this gonna be longer than originally planned (because when is it not?)  
> Anyway, this was the prologue for the series and I hoped you enjoyed it. From now on, this will be the longest, wildest ride imaginable. Have fun.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I like torturing characters? Maybe a bit.  
> Can you guess Lucina's mom? I hope so :D


End file.
